Picks Of The Week (27.05.23

1. Niallo - Dreamland EP 💎 [DIVIDID]

Recommended if you like: [BORDERS], The Caracal Project, Tom Finster

It's no secret I'm a big fan of the innovative, all-around strange sounds that come out of the newschool movement, spearheaded by the likes of IMANU and The Caracal Project. While these two, especially the latter, already come up with some truly puzzling sound design that would cause your nan to lose the last bits of hope she might have had for future generation's music, the up-and-coming artists inspired by them arguably push the envelope in that regard even further, making even millennials scratch their head sometimes. Or should I say millen-nial-lo? You guessed right, we're once again talking about Bristol-based badboy Niall Overend, better known as Niallo!

After talking about his introspective debut EP in 2021 and taking a closer look at his unsettlingly good follow-up EP in 2022, it has basically become an annual (an-niall?) tradition to expose you guys to the weirdest of bleeps and bloops that the scene has to offer. However, since we last talked about him, he has been expanding his sound even further! After an excursion on Incurzion and a double tracker on Surveillance Music, he realised how hard it was to find a home for his most out-there stuff, eventually leading him down the path of self-releasing earlier this year. Still not quite creatively satisfied, he even started another alias called Everdone just last month, for the less club-oriented side of the Niall. In the midst of all this (positive) creative turmoil, he managed to reinvent himself and his sound once again, this time dreaming up a whole new, more uplifting aesthetic, while still retaining the otherworldly alien-esque sound design he has become known for at this point. That unique combination of flavours got the attention of an imprint Niall has been looking up to since basically forever, DIVIDID, promptly resulting in label manager ABIS signing him on for a full EP! Let's see what the fuzz is all about then, shall we?

We ascend into the ethereal sky islands created from Niall's wicked sound design wizardry, with the title track Dreamland. After easing into it all by synths so dreamy they immediately earn the track its title, a most wonderful, distinctly retro-futuristic and otherworldly choir makes it clear that this release is different from most others. I can't quite explain why, but this whole intro gives off such strong retro-futuristic dystopia vibes that I just can't help but picture BioShock Infinite in my head. Following this unique introduction to it all is an equally, if not even more so, eccentric drop, driven forward by a syncopated, ever-changing flow and brought to life by all sorts of different bleeps and bloops.

As residents of the sky islands, we of course don't have any clouds blocking out the sun, so we end up becoming early risers and Niall already has the perfect anthem prepped for us: Holding On (6AM). With slightly dissonant chords, injected with strong white noise, creating a real sense of unease in a matter of seconds and the heavily processed, high-pitched vocal expanding on this experimental atmosphere, the rather strange journey continues. While I already kind of love this intro, the real highlight is what follows. Slow-moving, swinging drums act as the foundation for an incredibly catchy melody, whose each and every hit carries multiple waves of dissonance with it. Might sound weird, but it absolutely works. Throughout the drop, Niall effortlessly switches back and forth between this swinging, multi-layered madness and the chords from the buildup, with the occasional fake-out thrown in for good measure, really pushing the levels of dissonance to their limits. I absolutely love it.

With what sounds like a Japanese vocal sample, which has of course been slammed through various processing pipelines, and dissonant piano chords, Niall welcomes us to the next level of existence: Hyperreality. Even more syncopated than before, with little rolly bois chiming in every now and then, and an avalanche of melodies falling over each other, somehow forming a coherent rhythm in the process, this third stop makes you feel like you are living inside the glitchiest but simultaneously also prettiest videogames out there. EP closer Blue Snake takes this glitchy idea and runs with it. You know that sound you get, when you are watching something and your OS crashes on you, that millisecond-long snippet of audio just looping forever? That's what the buildup is like, but somehow melodically pleasing! As if that wasn't enough, we continue by hopping on a fast-paced joyride up and down the bleepy bloopy scales, with seemingly randomly appearing gaps in the melody creating an unpredictable yet well-flowing rhythm that will wrinkle your brain. Not only do we get loads of variation in the same tempo this way, Niall even pumps the brakes in the second half so hard we end up in a Half-time rhythm!

I have been a fan of Niallo's sound from the start basically, but this new direction is such a bold departure from the norm and just so wonderfully strange that I can't help but be even more ecstatic about his future projects than I already was before. Undenia(llo)bly one of the most unique releases of this and probably also previous years.

Other bleepy and bloopy things from this week:

skantia - Politics
A.way, Moment - Inception
B3D3-R, Asli, SEMPLE. - Summer Bounce EP

2. Geostatic - Worth Fighting For / Unpredictable [Celsius Recordings]

Recommended if you like: Sub:liminal, Invadhertz, Alix Perez

While he's slowly gaining a more sizeable audience and thus technically not a Hidden Gem™️ anymore, Geostatic is still incredibly underrated in my eyes. So, let's talk about him a bit!

Straight outta Austria's second largest city and one of its many DnB hotspots Graz, Philipp Hochegger aka Geostatic has been making geological, expressedly non-static waves in the DnB scene for years now. As part of the ehrliches BUM BUM or EBB crew, he is responsible for all sorts of ablaze Dancefloors not just in the area, but also at festivals like Outlook, Break & Lake and LakeSide. Inspired by the likes of Alix Perez, Phil of course also eventually wanted to fill up his playlists with tunes of his own. Around 2020, it was then finally time for the Geostatic project to ascend to the next level, with debut releases on Italian imprint Delta9 and its sister label DLT9. In the same year, Phil also participated in a competition for Graz-based artists, organised by springfestival graz, and managed to become one of the winners, with his track New Horizon even being used to promote the project on national television! After this first, already quite successful year, the Geostatic project swung into the next few ones with quite a lot of momentum, leading to releases on Transparent Audio, where he became a pivotal part of the ensemble, Ekou, Incurzion and, of course, Delta9, and collaborations with fellow Austrian talents Moekel, Screamarts and Anthropic.

After his arguably biggest EPs so far earlier this year, the Power Of Knowledge EP on Transparent Audio, which I kind of regret not covering here, Philipp continues his hot streak with some double trouble action on legendary Dutch label Fokuz's sister label, Celsius Recordings. And that's what we're here to talk about today! For the opener, Worth Fighting For, Phil recruits a certain someone, who has been making some serious moves in the scene lately: Dresden-based Scurrow. Together, the newcomer powerhouses craft a rather lovely roller of a tune, with soft pianos tugging at your heartstrings, a gentle vocal allowing your mind to drift away from the dreadful problems of day-to-day life, and warm bass to soothe the most anxious of souls. Speaking of bass, the flipside Unpredictable shows the polar opposite side of the Geostatic sound: Uncompromisingly huge, goosebump-inducing basslines, with a menacing atmosphere and forward-driving, rolling drums for maximum effect. What remains from the opener, albeit amped up to 11 here, is the soulfulness of it all, thanks to the wonderful vocal sample and its sublime processing.

Magnificent vibes, precise production, simply great! This is your invitation to also jump on the Geostatic hype train. Trust me, you won't regret it.

Other liquid and deep stuff from this week:

Trail - Resident EP
Satl, Brandy Haze - Today
Duskee, Deadline, Slay - CHICA
Reburf - In Deep EP 💎
Amoss - A Stroke Of Luck EP
Waeys - Objection VIP / Simula Remix
Apparition - Guardian EP